THE untimely death of a 23- year-old mother has led a family to fight Government policy on smear tests.
Sophie Blackett, from Tow Law, County Durham, asked doctors to be screened for cervical cancer months before dying from the disease in May.
She was refused the test, which is routine for women over 25, and was told, at 23, she was at low risk of developing the potentially-fatal condition.
It was not until returning to her GP with concerns that Sophie was referred to a clinic and found to be terminally ill.
Her husband, Paul Blackett, of Bridge Street, said Sophie would still be with him and their three-year-old son, Charlie, if it was detected earlier.
He said: “I feel devastated and angry because it could have been prevented. Sophie was very popular and is sadly missed. I have heard this has happened to other women, so I can’t just sit back, we have to do something.”
A Facebook group called Sophie’s Campaign has nearly 5,500 members and Mr Blackett has organised a petition- signing event on Saturday, at Helme Park Hotel, near Tow Law, to rally support.
Smear tests are not offered by the NHS in England until the age of 25 whereas in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland they are at 20.
Health chiefs stopped under-25 screening in 2005 after the International Agency for Research on Cancer and Cancer Research UK published research.
Hilary Armstrong, MP for North West Durham, is backing Sophie’s Campaign and pressing Health Minister Alan Johnson to review the position.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “Research has found screening women under the age of 25 can lead to unnecessary and harmful investigations and treatments.
“These women undergo natural and harmless changes in the cervix that screening identifies as cervical abnormalities and they are more likely to have abnormalities because these women have just become sexually active.
“Despite being much more likely to have cervical abnormalities, cervical cancer is very rare in this age group and, in most cases, these abnormalities resolve themselves without any need for treatment.”
Government officials have supported the use of vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix to protect adolescent women from the virus that causes the disease.
The petition-signing event will take place at Helme Park Hotel, at 6pm, on Saturday and will feature DJs, a live band and a hot buffet.
Entry is £4 and all proceeds will go to Cancer Research UK.
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